Former Scientologist Exposes Cult’s Horrifying Jail and Rehabilitation Program For Gays and Lesbians

Nora Crest, is a former top female Scientologist who worked with members like John Travolta and Tom Cruise. In an interview with Daily Mail, Cresttalks about the three horrifying years that she endured in Scientology’s Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) all because she kissed another girl. The RPF is another name for a secret labor camp in a remote Southern California suburb beyond the eyes of the cult’s general populous.

“We would stand in an empty trash can while various people poured buckets of iced water over your head and were shouting at you about what crap you were. The rooms had bugs and cockroaches. The bunks were dirty mattresses with rusty springs dating back to the ’50s. Disgusting conditions become the norm and you think that’s what you deserve and that you are what they say you are: a worthless piece of shit.”

Crest continued with more painful details. They would be starved and when given food it would be a battle to get some. “We’d be made to wait in line for the food to be distributed, there’d be around 250 people. When the doors opened, there was large stands of burger and fries and people would be diving at them, it was like a scene from Lord of the Flies, elbowing, punching each other, ripping hamburgers from one another, screaming in each others’ faces, then running off with the food to corners of the room like rabid animals and eating it quickly.”

I was doing a Scientology (RPF) routine where you learn to use verbal and physical commands to move a person from one wall across the room to the other. I was working with a man in his 40s and over 200 pounds in weight.

‘He was becoming increasingly frustrated with not being able to move me across the room and became suddenly violent, picking me up off the ground and slamming my whole body repeatedly into the concrete wall. Two of my ribs on the left side dislocated from my frame, and cracked, and one on the right fractured. I was still made to work,’ says Nora.

Crest begged to leave the camp, but the only way out was to admit she “was a degraded human being.” The RPF also continued to incessantly interrogate Crest with thousands of questions regarding her stance on the Church, making sure she wouldn’t speak out if she were to leave.

“It was one of the worst days of my life and I had to wait for three months for their decision while being convinced to stay on a daily basis. They’re telling me that I’m useless and I’m only ever going to be a hooker on the outside, I’d have nothing.”

‘They threatened to split my family up and that I could never speak to my mother or sister. Ultimately, I changed my mind and decided to stay, they’d broken me again

But then things got even worse.

‘I was put in the laundry unit (with another girl) and we were having fun, someone saw this and thought I was trying to seduce her, so they ordered me to do a confessional with an E-Meter, which would show if I’m telling the truth. I was asked all these questions if I’d kissed her, touched her, talked naughty words to her. I started laughing. I put down the E-Meter and said: “This isn’t Scientology”, and tried to leave the room, but they were stopping me. More and more people came into the room..

‘I was being kicked and punched, my face was covered in blood, but I just ran. I ran to the security at the base, who held me there until an RPF officer came to see me. Next day, I was told by the commanding officer that I was a piece of s**t and would be heavily punished.

Not being able to take it any longer and escaped the Scientology prison by drinking a bottle of bleach in an act of desperation. After she was released from the hospital, she “was forced to sign a waiver” that said she wasn’t going to sue to speak out against the Church. “I said it all to the camera,” she said. “I didn’t care, I just wanted to go home.”

Crest now lives with her husband, Cameron, and their two sons, Landon and Nick.

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Will Kohler is a noted LGBT historian, writer, blogger and owner of Back2Stonewall.com. A longtime gay activist, Will fought on the front lines of the AIDS epidemic with ACT-UP and continues fighting today for LGBT acceptance and full equality. Will’s work has been referenced in notable media venues as MSNBC and BBC News, The Washington Post, The Advocate, The Daily Beast, Hollywood Reporter, Raw Story, and The Huffington Post